The quiet sway of steel lines
- Kye-Yeon is a metalsmith inspired by the lines found in nature
- Her practice is concerned with movement and abstraction
- She was a Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Finalist in 2019
Kye-Yeon Son’s metalwork explores fragility and tenacity in nature-inspired sculptures. She uses fine steel wire structures to create a subtle, wind-led movement. Kye-Yeon trained as a silversmith and jeweller at Seoul National University, gaining an MFA in jewellery design and silversmithing from Indiana University in 1984. She later settled in Canada. Kye-Yeon’s aim is to translate the kinetics of reeds, grasses and bare branches into wire-built forms that respond to the slightest air current. Since the 1990s, her focus has been on refining metal’s behaviour to draw out its tensile line. “Lines as observed in nature are at the centre of my practice,” she says. Kye-Yeon’s processes include graded gold plating over silver, micro-welding steel, enamelling, Korean lacquering or ottchil, and electroplating. Kye-Yeon won Canada’s Saidye Bronfman Award for fine craft in 2011 and is a professor at NSCAD University in Halifax.
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INTERVIEW
I find metal fascinating. It offers the range I need to explore the concepts of both strength and vulnerability. Since the 1990s, I have learned how it behaves under hammering, soldering and fabrication. To visually communicate fragility, I refine the metal down to get a look of delicacy while keeping the integrity in the structure.
I study lines in motion: reeds, seed heads and branches moving with the wind. Small differences in the wire thickness, height or the weight of a seed alter the bend and recovery. I am looking for that specific, quiet sway.
My inspiration is overtly natural, drawn from wheat fields, reeds and seed pods. Rather than illustrate what I can see, I aim to extract qualities of line and movement. Sometimes I pull back if a form becomes too descriptive because I do not want to compete with nature, only echo its qualities.
I consider it a privilege and a duty to pass on craft skills. Craft is about honouring traditional skills and materials, but we need to constantly research new techniques to keep it alive and current.
